Zwift, my journey, my weight and my fitness.

weeksy -

The new model is updated in accuracy to 3% now from 5%, so that's good, along with the new warranty and the fact i've enjoyed riding outdoors, i'm all good.

Hiya again, that's the model I have actually, the 3% accuracy one.

FEC working good now too. I also run an extension lead... 😉

Oh, just did my first race! Had a lot going on but in reality found it all a bit confusing/ intimidating. Stupidly.

Anyway, did the Chase of Truth - D Group at 7.45 tonight.

Think I came 16th but seemed to just get overtaken by everyone to be honest. [b]LOVED[/b] it though!

Trouble is the race isnt even showing on ZPower... Strava has it ok but the race is simply missing from the ZPower site?

Normal?

Thanks for info guys. Finally popped my cherry now and cant wait for the next one I do! HP went up to 189 near the end though, in my attempt at a "sprint". Bit high for a 48 year old unfit bloke??

Good stuff, poopscoop. HR is pretty much a personal thing, within reason. Mine is 171 absolute max that I've reached in last 12 months of turboing (I'm 52 FWIW).

I just "did" a race tonight - not sure how but I clearly miscounted ... in a oNE lap race. FFS !

"Oh, [i]now[/i] I see why I didn't even have to sprint at max to get over in first place"

Was a bit like those youtube vids you see - me sitting up, drinking in the glory as the pack streams past for another 4km 😳

Haha ! - C was won by a 38kg rider with a 95% power of 7.3 w/kg 😀

Yep,I was confused by laps too.
Sent over the finish.... Then thought there was an extra lap so went off again! Doh!

Any idea why the race isn't on Z Power? 🙁

no idea, sorry
Have you made your ride public on strava - I think that's how some races get their results

I think so mate. That said there are a load of settings on Strava for privacy.lol

Also, privacy or not, the race itself is just totally missing from the list of all today's races on Z Power. Odd!

do you ever nod off and have really vivid dreams ? 🙂

scaredypants - Member
do you ever nod off and have really vivid dreams ?

Weird!

I was just thinking exactly that!
It's as if I dreamt it! Lol 😀

Hmmm... Im thinking its because it wasn't a registered group ride as it were?

Not "KISS" or whatever just called "Chase of Truth - D Group" so you dont get to see the results on ZPower?? A guess really.

So I've done 2 races, but on ZP it says I've got 2 ZP results and only 1 strava result. Could this be that after my last race where I did the 1 lap race I carried on riding for a bit to warm down and didn't save the ride until after the warm down. So maybe the race and strava didn't match or it wasn't on strava when they did the initial scan. Would that be why?

Hmmm... Im thinking its because it wasn't a registered group ride as it were?

Not "KISS" or whatever just called "Chase of Truth - D Group" so you dont get to see the results on ZPower?? A guess really.

Sounds possible, i usually enter KISS/WBR/SZR etc... I guess before next race, check on Zwiftpower before the race as it shows the races that are coming up too. But well done giving it a try !

muggomagic - Member
So I've done 2 races, but on ZP it says I've got 2 ZP results and only 1 strava result. Could this be that after my last race where I did the 1 lap race I carried on riding for a bit to warm down and didn't save the ride until after the warm down. So maybe the race and strava didn't match or it wasn't on strava when they did the initial scan. Would that be why?

Sometimes something just goes pear shaped... that's just how it is really i'm afraid. We have to remember, whilst we're paying for Zwift, we're not paying for the races, so sometimes they're done well, sometimes badly, but they are free....
I have 50 ZP races, 48 Strava results... So i'm a couple missing too.

Ok. Just wondered if it was something I'd done.

Will be doing the 17:05 WBR 3 laps hilly again today. I start work at 5am and have to get up around 3:30am and have been wondering if I got up a bit earlier could I squeeze a race in before I leave?! Not sure how the family would take being woken up at that time by the whirr of the turbo.

Hmm mine is strange:
Zwift Results (36)
Strava Results (42)
NoMatch (6)

Actually it’s really weird, I haven’t entered or even been on Zwift for the no match ones, such as CVR women’s?! https://www.zwiftpower.com/profile.php?id=8544067
😆

I was planning on doing a couple of races this week, but I’ve been finishing work realllly late recently, by the time I’ve commuted home I just want dinner and to doss out. Goodbye summer fitness 🙁

Will be doing the 17:05 WBR 3 laps hilly again today. I start work at 5am and have to get up around 3:30am and have been wondering if I got up a bit earlier could I squeeze a race in before I leave?! Not sure how the family would take being woken up at that time by the whirr of the turbo.

I was debating that one, i even clicked on it and added myself. But then i think the 6pm SZR has a lot more people in it, then i think the 20:05 seems to suit my racing a lot more ... So i'm torn as to which to play on...

All of this is assuming my Snap arrives today.

What about all of the above 😀

Turbo is indeed arriving today, 12.36-13.36 🙂

Perfect.

So i'll deffo be giving it a set-up today and then doing a race later... 8.05pm of flat seems like my best chance of not being last, hilly at Richmond couldn't suit my riding less !

I raced in the Zwift Masters last night. First race since my knee went sproing last December.

Forgotten how hard racing is but so much fun. The Zwift Masters is a great series. 13 races over 13 weeks on Tuesdays. 3 races a day to cater for timezones and your best 6 results count. Points awarded for general position and your position in your age cat.

Well worth a go and a great crowd.

I'm a couple of years short for that series, it does look really well run though!

You all receive my Sunday invite?? I'm sweeping 🙂

Yeah - I was tempted to join in your Sunday invite NathB but it'll be about 3hrs riding won't it & with sproglet to entertain at the weekend it ain't gonna happen!

Only way I can fit a long ride like that in, is to be out of the house by 6:30am or so....

Thanks Weeksey,

I'm doing the 8.05pm ride tonight. Just put EVR (D) after my name. Hope that syntax is ok, didn't say anything on the little EVR read me under events.

Fingers crossed, this one is going to hurt, hilly or not. Legs feel tight from yesterday and I'm woefully unfit but it's a little addictive once you've had a race. 🙂

Oh, two things!

1 What do the glowing legs on some riders mean?

2 Do wheels/ bikes actually effect the physics or are they purely just incentives as you get points?

Thanks!

That means they've got to I think level 25. Tron bike.

Upgrades do apparently have benefits yes. Crosshair will have more info I bet.

I'm doing same race in C. I plan on a top 5. Whether the reality is the same, who knows.

Just configured, tested etc the new Kickr Snap. I had to do 2.5 turns to get the Spindown below 15s. But quick test seems to be OK.

glowing legs ?? (you don't just mean folk with the tron bike and a bit of "reflection" from that)?

[url= https://zwiftblog.com/5-fastest-bikes/ ]Fast bikes[/url] if you can be arsed to read it all - there's a spreadsheet and everything 😀

(I'm out on the piss Saturday night but will try & join in for some of nath's Sunday marathon)

Hi mate!

Thanks for link. Only just got first frame/wheel upgrade so it must be better than the first one I had! Lol

Also blue socks. Must be faster. 😉

The glowing legs, no, not a reflection. Saw it in the TT I did usually/always on riders motoring past me. 😀

Was wondering if it was to indicate high speed or wattage?

Can't say I've noticed the glowing legs? Torn bike is unlocked with the Everest challenge. I've only just got mine, which shows how often I go up the mountain 😀

Ah, just been looking for a Tron bike on zwift - I think maybe what you're seeing if the headlight of your bike on the legs of a rider in front

Have a look, log on and "just watch"

Torn bike.... Might be a while before I get that then! 😀

Perhaps the glowing legs are a TT thing? 😀

I haven't but read it yet but Frank Garcia of CVR has published a draft of a set of rules for governing virtual cycle racing:

VIEW.PUBLITAS.COM "https://view.publitas.com/44423/375961/pdfs/bfa8a22a7ab076bf71afda4f76e17953d10c5e53.pdf"

Bloke has too much time on his hands.

He's poured a ton of cash into it already so I think he's just preempting the inevitable questions people have already started asking.

One guy rocked up to CVR and was 6kg heavier than his normal Zwift race weight 😀 And he's gone back to racing 6kg lighter since!!!
There's a 500 comment thread on FB about it 😆

Somehow ended up in group C 😳
I’d had a few beers last night so probably wasn’t feeling my best and died hanging on to the bunch for the first lap, and on the 3rd climb my heart felt like is was going to burst out of my chest. I dropped off the back and spent the next lap trying to recover and dropped all the way back to last place. Felt a bit better after lap 2 and managed to catch up and pass the 2nd to last rider and kept the gap all the way to the finish.
I actually feel quite unwell now 😥

Think of the calories!

CH, I don't mind if he ends up charging for racing, but I'd like him to sort it a bit better first.

Muggomagic - you soon get used to your lungs,heart and stomach being on the outside of your body when zwifting. I still have head in hands resting on my workbench after races with the fan going full chat.

Nathb - i might make a brief appearence on sunday but i wont be able to do full distance due to family stuff so i reckon i could do an hour.

I am 62% on everest challenge so still got quite a way to go for the tron bike.

That’s the hardest I’ve had to work on zwift. At least on the workouts you get a bit of rest in between the hard efforts. Just glad I wasn’t last.

good luck @ 8.05 guys

Just logging in. 🙂

cool. pin it with 5-10s on countdown

Oh my word! Talk about hitting a wall.
40 min in my world and body fell apart. I'm going to blame it on a fasting day today and Monday, but I just fell apart massively.

Nearly quit but trundled round to complete in 1hr 15.

I've been on the floor for 10 min now in a sweaty heap.

Destroyed

shaking here too, weeksy

**** ME

(didn't see you on the grid or I'd have said hello)

Funny being in a group with the zwifting grown-ups like Tim Cartwright.
I thought he'd dropped out at one point; turned out he'd ****ed off up the road. Didn't even see him go 😆

That was a fast B group scaredypants.

Weeksy - just one of those days.

I saw another stw member in ZP LIVE but not on results page??

There was 2. Poop scoop who seems to have bailed just after I passed him before line, he'd have had 1 lap to go. Also someone who appeared to be 15 years old who went off like a rocket and I think then bailed.

Mrs Weeksy said " you look awfully pale"

I was struggling to hold 200w for last 2 laps

Holy H Christ...... Came last. I was destroyed.

During it I was thinking never again!!!!!

Now, really chuffed I completed it.

Next time wearing a proper chamois.... rode in boxeres and my scrote is actually bleeding. 🙁

Off to eat 2 horses now.

Be back later! 😀

What a rush!!!!!!!!!

Looks to be an interesting race!

Ah Zwift is getting exciting again now that numbers have increased, the A's not being able to shake of the B's just shows the power of the draft effect!

I hate racing Tim, he taunts you into thinking you have a chance and then just rides off the front 😆

weeksy - Member

There was 2. Poop scoop who seems to have bailed just after I passed him before line, he'd have had 1 lap to go. Also someone who appeared to be 15 years old who went off like a rocket and I think then bailed.

Mrs Weeksy said " you look awfully pale"

I was struggling to hold 200w for last 2 laps

No mate, but got off bike to get drink and throw water over me. I could barely walk! 😀 Got cramping spasming in legs at moment. lol 😀

Weeksy- Frank is the guy behind the live events and the cycligent rankings site not Zwiftpower.
I don't think charging for racing is on anyone's radar?

Looks to be an interesting race!

seem to have pulled muscles in both buttocks 😳 - or else I need a different saddle

Richmond flat is epic, one of the fastest sensations on Zwift is racing that course I think! Looks like a good race well done all!

Next time wearing a proper chamois.... rode in boxeres and my scrote is actually bleeding.

PICS !!

*(no pics)

OK, various creams administered to various body parts. Legs seem to still be going into some sort of anaphylactic shock or something. I can now command them to walk to some degree. Which is nice.

Just looked at ZPower/ Strava...

I was the heaviest rider there. Highlighted in red actually. Im giving myself a bit of kudos. Came last but biggest bloke there. Not sure i'll brag about that too much though! 😀

Interestingly my wattage was upgraded and my FTP was almost spot on to what I had in the TT race I did. Heart rate also didnt go too high either.

I just hit around 10k or so and my legs just had nothing. Low heartbeat but just couldnt push my legs to go faster.

Got a few drafts in pretty early on but got dumped. I find the drafting difficult? I either go to fast or try to equalise with the pack and drop off the back. Not helped as there is a bit of lag. A bit of a skill to learn?

Enjoyed it though (now its over...) and I can genuinely say the only way is up after coming last! lol

Did much better in that 16K TT... Im guessing my legs just haven't got the stamina, yet, for the long stuff.

I saw the riders with the glowing legs again but still not sure what that means? lol

Mine was a weird one. The race went swimmingly to start, out of the blocks and sitting in the main C group, 2 riders had gone up the road with a few more Bs, but they were going for a DQ/Upgrade so didn't give them any thought.
30 mins in and my HR was sitting around 168-170, which is perfectly acceptable for me. On a couple of sections we had a few minor splits, but we all seemed OK and brought it back. Little bit of chat going on between riders etc.
35-40 mins in it split again and i lost the wheel.

There were 2 of us, me and Spillman, i ended up doing more of the work for the next 10 mins than him, even dropping him without trying to by 5s. Then he caught me.... We did 10 mins together and were holding the next group at 1min 10 behind us... Then i lost him....

I was trying to survive and hang on, but next thing you know, the group behind were upon me... 10s, 8s, I thought, right, jump on their wheels.... That lasted less than 5s, they were gone before i really even drafted..... My HR was through the floor, only 156bpm, but my legs wouldn't power at all. I tried higher cadence, lower cadence, but the fact was, i was finished !

The last 10km went sooooo slowly... I can't believe how long it took !

I have to say after yesterday's race, I can't wait to get out in the mud tonight. Riding bikes should be about fun, not pain and suffering (unless it's someone else's of course) 🙂
Next race for me will be the 4 lap watopia flat Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.

I'm planning on a rest day today. Whether that means i'll actually take one.. is open to debate. I can say with certainty, it will be shorter if i do !

Little bit of chat going on between riders etc

Weeksy, sounds a bit like you've overdone things - or else you're coming down with something. Have your outdoor rides been hard? Maybe you should have one of our expert panel review your stats? (they might confiscate your bike though 😀 )

Poop - drafting does take a bit of learning IME. As you say, you have to build in any lag especially if you're trying to drop in as somebody comes past. I still back off too much once I'm "in" though I think sometimes people put in a little kick when they see you catch up and then sit in 👿 . Races are definitely harder than TTs as you have those surges in group pace to keep up with (in a TT nobody can draft so being dropped from a bunch doesn't make any difference to your speed relative to them; you don't need to fight to hold them as it's no advantage anyway)

No race for me today. Might have a little bimble later on if my sore arse can take it

Monday and Weds (yesterday) were 600 cal days on the 5-2 Horizon diet. Along with a fair few farily hard efforts in the last few days, including 4 hours + at Swinley on Saturday, then riding Sun and Mon. So yes, i think it was over worked, under-fed that wiped me out and i just hit empty.
But as much as performance and results are important to me, getting the weight back down is equally/more important, if the consequences are that i have poor races, then hey ho, so be it.

Funniest bit was, i was lying in bed last night, so about 1 hour after race and i was frozen ! my fingers were freeing as were my feet etc. I even had a jumper on in bed, which is bonkers as i'm usually roasting. But for several hours and even after a long hot shower, i was still an ice block.

Clearly i did a fair few things wrong, be it training, diet, etc.. but we can't go back in time and fix it.

Noticed that a few of you have STW as your team. Is this an all inclusive team or do you have to be drafted onto the team after a series of Vo2 max tests?

On your Zwiftpower profile, there's a 'team' box.... Just type in there. Most of us add STW to their names too.

Hi thread lurker here.

Just thought I'd say thanks as this thread encouraged me to have a go at a race for the first time (despite the fact you all make it sound bloody painful) :-).

I did the SZR Autumn Race, C category. Luckily I managed to get into a group and spent most of the race trying to stay in it. I seemed to vary from hanging on at the back to being at the front. The hills were fun as it looks like I am better on them than on the flat!

The legs were a bit rubbery at the end and I didn't have time for a warm down as I had to get ready for work. Best of all I wasn't last!

Far better than riding on your own and sure made the time go quickly.

Cheers

Welcome to the thread JK 🙂

I’d say that the races have been a real plus for me.
I was at a point where I didn’t fancy the workouts as there was too much time spent gradually warming up and down and I just didn’t have the time. Just riding had become boring and I would just try and hit a round number and that’d do. There was no real effort involved and the number kept decreasing the more I did it.
The races mean I am getting a really good workout in a reasonable amount of time and the kms absolutely fly by.

Good work jk, by the time you finish your next race you will be an addict and addicted to being a sweaty mess with rubbery legs.

Its strange reading all your accounts of the race as its hard to imagine you were all in the same race. All had varying races with the only common denominator being pain. Good work chaps and great write ups from the new starters.

Quick numpty question, if I use a Tacx turbo for £120 from Halfords is the resistance adjusted automatically or does Zwift adjust my results accordingly?

Zwift speeds you up and slows you down, your pedalling/resistance etc will not change, your little man will just go faster/slower using Zwifts calcs.

Jimster, as weeksy says, zwift can use any power figure ("ideally" from a power meter of some sort but, assuming your trainer is on their list, they can use wheel speed to estimate power)

Smart trainers have resitance that zwift can cotrol (for realistic hills etc) but you don't have to have that to use it (and you can always change up a few gears to make it feel similar, or some trainers have a resistance dial, I think)). Riding with people who do vs don't have smart trainers is weird though, as the "smart" people tend to increase power up hills while the non-smart ones keep a more staedy output (and often faster down hills)

oh and

The hills were fun as it looks like I am better on them than on the flat!

delete your account

😉

So I did my first sprints session last night, since I've been back on Zwift, and although I was breathing out my arse and just about hanging on, my HR seemed to stay low. In fact, according to Strava, it didn't make it much above Zone 3.....is this usual? Seems like a weird result to me.

OK, I'm looking at getting one of these -

[url= http://www.halfords.com/cycling/turbo-trainers/trainers/tacx-blue-matic-t2650-smart-turbo-trainer ]http://www.halfords.com/cycling/turbo-trainers/trainers/tacx-blue-matic-t2650-smart-turbo-trainer[/url]

Do i need a heart rate monitor too?

That's the turbo I have and use with Zwift, it's okay.

HRM is useful but not totally needed

You'll need wheel and cadence sensor and and ANT+ dongle if using Garmin et al stuff

I also have a 2m USB extension lead as I find the dongle is better nearer the bike

I'll take a photo

Do i need a heart rate monitor too?

I'd say yes. A lot of the races seem to have in the terms that racers without HRM can be DQ'd. I got a bluetooth one from Amazon for about £20.

Muggomagic - can you send a link for the hrm you bought from amazon?

Just done the WBR flat 41km race and that was quite brutal. The start was probably the fastest i have been in, i couldnt keep up with the lead group and it took nearly 2 mins for me to catch them using quite a lot of power. This meant the first lap was savage and i used most of it to recover from the start. I was now in a group of about 10 riders but only about 5 riders were showing on my list, it wasnt until the 3rd lap that i realised i was in the lead group of mainly cat A riders. By the end of the 3rd lap it was just me and one other cat B rider in amongst the A’s so it was a last lap tussle for the gold trophy. I decided that i was going to go early again and the last climb up to the rollers was my best chance of dropping him. We went over bridge after the sprint section and as the hill started i hit the lightweight power up and put bike in top gear and sprinted, hitting 8w/kg up the hill i passed everyone and used the downhill to recover i had a 10sec lead over B rider. Cat A riders caught me on the rollers so we all went in a bunch to the line but i had no sprint. Won GOLD by 22 secs and beat third by nearly 6 minutes, i knew it was fast. Overall winner was only 35 secs ahead of me and i was in the bunch finish with the guy who came third overall.

Great result.

Not the exact one I've got but it looks similar.

[url= https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MAVPV7L/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_SKoZzbMTGYPZH ]HRM[/url]

By 'eck Blader, impressive again mate ! Nice work.

well done blader - great result

(not sure Monsieur Tabaric is going to be at the top of that list for long 😀 )

Some interesting posts guys and thanks for the reassurance on drafting. Do you know your drafting when your rider lowers down to the bar? I'm not always sure when I am actually drafting.lol

Legs feel no where near as bad as I thought they would, including my dodgy knee.

Still feel a bit sick though.

[b]Weeksy[/b] interesting what you said about race performance vs losing weight. In doing a low carb diet, around 10g carbs a day in fact! Weight drops off fast but I think it might take my body a while to get used to burning fat quick enough to fuel the old legs. Body burns fat slower than carbs inherently I think? And im very unfit. At the moment... 😉

Like you though, I'm more concerned about losing weight than results at the moment.

Which is just as well after finishing last! 😀

Also looking to change the bar height on the Arkose. Feels very heavy on my arms and wrists. First drop bar bike since I was a kid. Going to flip the stem tonight to raise it a little. Wearing a padded liner from now on too, managed to find it late last night.

I'm going to give the mountain ride a go in a few days, up to the masts. It's going to really hurt but figuring I can just drop to granny and spin... That's what I do in real life biking anyway,always been a spinner.

Oh weeksy, want to say a personal thanks for starting this thread. It is what gave me the impetuous to get off my butt and actually do something about my fitness. 48 now and my dad has his first heart attack by my age. Sobering!

Anyway, thanks mate and to all the other helpful people in this thread.

Oh, added STW to my zwift name. Hope that's ok guys? Just easier to spot "us lot" in zwift then.

Just off to show my bum some more tlc with some more sudacream!

I never even saw Tabaric in the race but the guy in second was with us for the first couple of laps and i think he went ahead on lap 3 and nobody even chased him.

Muggomagic - cheers for that, do you have to connect it to a specific app or does zwift pick it up?

I use an ipad. I had to tap to pair at first in the zwift app but now it just connects automatically when I'm wearing it.

Once you plug in the ant + dongle (unless on iOS as I think it's built in on some apple products? )and set up zwift there is a pairing screen to link HR sensor, cadence sensor, smart trainer etc.

I find on Windows Zwift that it pairs automatically now a long as I put the HR monitor on before launching zwift. If not it's only 2 mouse presses anyway.

I bought a second Garmin HR monitor and it works great.

Waiting on a cadence sensor from China at the moment, cost about £10 Inc delivery. Not necessary but at that price, handy to have.

Well done Blader! Epic ride. That is a classic Zwift tactic to launch on that hill. Sadly it's often resulted in me dying a death half way through the Esses 😆
Great move to make it stick. It's similar to launching up the escalator on London- you know that the pain up the hill is just the start 😀

Scoop,

When you're drafting, your rider sits up, when you go into the wind, he ducks into a semi-aero position. This changes slightly on fastish slight downhills as you'll still sit in the semi-aero position not in the upright.

Poopscoop - Member
Some interesting posts guys and thanks for the reassurance on drafting. Do you know your drafting when your rider lowers down to the bar? I'm not always sure when I am actually drafting